According to Nan Huai Jin:
The Book of Changes is the conclusion of Zhou Wenwang's study of the Book of Changes in Wei Xiao prison. Our Confucian culture, Taoist culture, and even the whole culture of China began to develop after King Wen wrote the Book of Changes. Therefore, the theory of a hundred schools of thought stems from these hexagrams drawn in this book and the Book of Changes.
In fact, there are two kinds of I Ching, one is Lianshan Yi, the other is Guizang Yi, and the other is Zhouyi, which are collectively called "three changes". The Book of Changes in Lianshan is the Book of Changes in Shennong era, and the position of the eight diagrams drawn is different from the Book of Changes. The Book of Changes in the era of the Yellow Emperor was the Book of Changes in Tibet.
Lianshan Yi began with the root of hexagrams, Guizang Yi began with hexagrams Kun, and in Yijing it began with the stem of hexagrams, which is the difference between the three Yi. Speaking of which, there should be a concept. Now people talk about the Book of Changes, often confined to this Book of Changes, because some people say that Lian Shan Yi and Gui Zang Yi have been lost. Actually, is there any more? This is a big problem. It can be said that this set of things in the "Jianghu" that we China people are talking about now, such as medicine, geomantic omen and Taoism, are the combination of the two Yi-ology, namely, linking mountains and returning to Tibet.
In addition to joining the mountains and returning to Tibet, the Book of Changes itself has a principle, also called "three changes", which means that the Book of Changes includes three principles: first, change; Second, simplicity; Third, it is not easy. To learn the Book of Changes, we must first understand the truth of these three principles.
(1) Bianyi
First, the so-called change is that the Book of Changes tells us that everything in the world, people in the world and even everything in the universe are unchanged. In time and space, nothing, nothing, no situation, no idea is unchangeable, impossible and must be changed. For example, when we sit here, the first second we sit down is already changing, and the next second is different. Different times, different environments, different moods and different spirits. Anytime, anywhere, everything is changing and must be changed. Nothing is the same. Therefore, to learn the Book of Changes, we must first know "change". People with advanced wisdom not only know the change, but also can adapt to it. This is why we can't learn the Book of Changes.
From this, we also know a term "impermanence" in Indian Buddhism. This term has gradually become superstitious by some Buddhists. There is a ghost carved in the Town God Temple. It is tall and thin, wearing a white robe and hat, and has a long tongue. It is called "white impermanence". It is superstition to say that people will die when this "ghost" comes. In fact, the word "impermanence" is a kind of Buddhism, which means that nothing in the world can exist forever, so it is called "impermanence", which is the reason for the changes in the Book of Changes. The principles of the Book of Changes in our China culture. Everything in the universe is immutable and must be changed. This is a principle. On the other hand, Indians are concerned about phenomena. For example, when the house is built, it will definitely fall down in the future, and people will be born sick, old and dead. This is the so-called "impermanence" phenomenon
(2) Simplicity
The second simplicity is that everything in the universe, many of which are beyond our wisdom and knowledge. Here is a question that I often tell my friends, which can also be said to be a philosophical comparison. The phenomenon of "nothing in reason" between heaven and earth is that our experience is not enough, scientific experiments have not yet appeared, and "nothing in reason" is that our wisdom is not enough. In other words, everything in the universe has its reason. If there is such a thing, it must have its principle, but we are not wise enough and experienced enough to understand its principle. The simplicity of the Book of Changes is also the highest principle. Anything mysterious in the universe, when we have enough wisdom to understand it, it becomes ordinary, the most ordinary and very simple. When we watch Zhuge Liang in Beijing Opera, we can know the past and the future by sticking out a few fingers and taking turns pinching them. Is there such a truth? Yes, there is this method. After the ancients understood the laws of the Book of Changes and the things in the universe, they arranged the gossip patterns on the knuckles, coupled with the relationship between time and space, and arranged mathematical formulas to calculate things. This simplifies such a complicated truth, so it is called simplicity. Then, the Book of Changes first tells us that things in the universe are changing at any time. Although the law of change is very complicated, the complex phenomenon of everything in the universe is very simple after we understand the principles and principles.
(3) Not easy
Third, it is not easy. Everything is changing at any time and anywhere, but one thing will never change, and that is what can change everything, and that is eternity. What is that thing? Religious scholars call it "God", "God", "Teacher", "Buddha" and "Bodhisattva". Philosophers call it "ontology" and scientists call it "function". No matter what its name is, there is such a thing, it is immutable, and so is this "it" that can change everything, everything and everything.
These are the three principles of the Book of Changes, which should be understood first.
——————————————— For details, please refer to Nan Zhouyi ZaShuo, which is available in bookstores.